Neighborhood agog as Hollywood filmmaking comes to Worcester

Wednesday

Apr 10, 2013 at 8:00 AMApr 10, 2013 at 9:07 PM

By Linda Bock, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

WORCESTER - Scott Fair was absolutely enjoying the sweet irony that Hollywood stars and film crew are in Worcester filming a 1970s-era story about bribing politicians to grant a gaming license to a casino in New Jersey while a Chicago-based casino operator is currently trying to convince city officials to allow a slots casino in Worcester.

"It's way too funny, "Mr. Fair said.

An independent filmmaker himself, Mr. Fair is a software engineer who grew up in Worcester and lives in California. He has a small film company and is working on a documentary on the Hotel Vernon and other projects in Worcester. While film crews draped black cloth around the front and side entrances of the 1920 four-story brick building that houses Nick's Bar & Restaurant, 154 Millbury St., he checked his phone around 10:30 Wednesday morning.

"News flash," Mr. Fair said. "Robert DeNiro just signed for this film."

The film is director David O. Russell's yet-to-be-named film based on Abscam, a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation in the late 1970s that led to convictions of a U.S. senator, five members of the U.S. House of Representatives, a New Jersey state senator, and Philadelphia city councilors and other officials. The movie is being predominantly filmed in Massachusetts.

Word is filming will take place at Union Station and near businesses in the area of Woosta Pizza on Main Street over the next few days in addition to the Nick's Bar building. Nick's has a temporary sign in front of it now complements of film crews that says, "Baron's Italian Dining."

"This is good for Worcester in general, and good for the Canal District," Mr. Fair said. "This will highlight the architecture here in the city."

The neighborhood was abuzz with excitement as word quickly spread that Hollywood had come to Worcester. Gawkers craned their necks to catch a glimpse of stars from crowded sidewalks and slow-moving cars.

"This is the first time I ever got to see a film being made," said Joetta Ripley, owner of the soon-to-open Wicked Java Lounge at 54 Millbury St. "It's pretty cool."

She was standing across the street when Jeremy Renner, who plays the mayor of Camden, N.J., in the movie, arrived this morning. He joined other A-listers Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence inside the Nick's Bar building. Co-star Amy Adams was not on the set today.

The action centered on the Nick's bar building, but Millbury Street itself was being transformed to look like it was the 1970s. About 80 classic cars were brought in, and many were parked Wednesday along Millbury Street, which was closed from Endicott Street down to Kelley Square. Several nearby side streets were also blocked as film crews set up heavy-duty lights. City workers Joe Magierowski and Richard D. Carrico Jr. worked feverishly to remove modern parking meters and replace them with vintage parking meters for the day.

"I just took 65 meters out from here a couple of months ago," Mr. Magierowski said. "Now I'm putting them back."

The old meters have been kept in the Department of Public Works restored surplus.

"I guess it's good we didn't get rid of them," he said. Wednesday, he rushed to replace the meters from Sigel Street to Ellsworth Street for tonight's filming, and tomorrow he will change meters from Lafayette Street to the rotary.

"We didn't even know it was coming," said Ron Holbrook, who lives on Millbury Street. "It's going to be a real challenge for people who live here."

Mr. Holbrook, who grew up in the neighborhood, expects traffic to be slow and fans to clog the neighborhood. He watched as crews put finishing touches on Nick's Bar from across the street. He said Nick's was known as Uncle Tom's back in the '70s.

"This is going to be a scene from Philadelphia," he said. "That's the info I got."

Another stargazer, Veronica Girouard, lives in the building next to Nick's.

"They were here early this morning at 6," Ms. Girouard said, adding that crews had been setting up for the past few days.

"I would like to see Christian Bale. I'd love to hug him," she said.

A spokesman for the film production company said the set is off-limits to the public because it is a period piece.

The film is scheduled for limited release on Dec. 13 in Los Angeles and New York City and opens nationwide on Christmas Day.